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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2007 17:41:15 GMT -5
While doing some antique shoping, I came across a wooden box full of brown wax cylinders, complete with a listing of what was on each cylinder. The list was hand written. I counted 8 cylinders, six of which were wrapped in cotton, the last too were not. The two that I did see were in good shape. The price, $125.00 for the case. I almost considered buying them, and then realized, I had better ask someone about them. In case they would not work, on my Edsion Machine. Actaully, I'm not even sure they were Edsion Cylinders. It was the first time, I had ever seen brown wax cylinders before.
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Post by gramophoneshane on May 25, 2007 18:43:09 GMT -5
The brown ones are the early ones. Depending on how old they are, they MIGHT work on your home. The early ones were recorded at a slower speed. I guess you could slow your machine down to play them if they're not 160rpm. If they're not moldy etc, its probably a good price I think. They seem to get pretty good prices on ebay when they come up. Still, things out here are a different price range, so I'd wait and ask Bill or someone before you go and get them. There value will probably depend on what make, age etc, and condition of course. They do sound really cool though.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2007 19:11:54 GMT -5
Yeah, I was going to hold off. I don't want too, rush into anything.
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Post by neophone on May 26, 2007 1:27:14 GMT -5
Paul,
I'm the cylinder rookie here but, they might be home-recorded cylinders! If they aren't moldy....
Hopefully one of the boys who know cylinders better will be able to add something.
Regards, J.
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Post by lukewarmwater on May 26, 2007 6:16:25 GMT -5
What did the listing say was on each cylinder for starters? Luke W
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Post by maroongem on May 26, 2007 7:49:03 GMT -5
Paul,
$125.00 is not bad at all, depending on the content. As you say some are cotton wrapped, my guess would be that they are commercially released records as this is how they came in the box as well as being wrapped with a brown onionskin type paper with a record slip sandwiched between Brownies can go anywhere from $20.00 up per record, so if they're not moldy, you're ahead of the game. The speeds varied and can be as low as 130 RPM up to 150. You would have to do it by ear, of course. These were softer than the later gold moulded and black flat-tops, and a Mod. B reproducer with ball stylus is gentler than the C with it's door knob, but you can play them fine, just remember the C has a heavier weight so I wouldn't suggest constant play. If the wooden box is one made for cylinders, that too has value as well.
Bill
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Post by gramophoneshane on May 26, 2007 9:31:38 GMT -5
There you go! Good luck Paul- I hope you get them...except I'll be jealous. I don't have any brown commercial releases. They're VERY few and far between down under. Now you'll have to get a Model A edison, so you don't have to reach under the motor board to change the speed all the time. If you do get them, you'll have to post a list of titles etc, so we can all turn green with envy
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2007 16:58:33 GMT -5
Thanks Bill. They were sitting in a box that was made for cylinders, as there were two empty posts. Off hand I can not remember what the listings were, Luke. I may go back on my next day off, and see if I can examine them more closely.
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Post by lukewarmwater on May 27, 2007 6:34:29 GMT -5
Good idea to go back, but do so quickly! Since you are a new collector, please allow me to ascend the stump for a moment and give you the best advice I can give you based on 40 years of collecting (I bought my first phonograph at age 10 and haven't been the same since!) Visitors to our home often look around and say, "How do you find this stuff?" Since I rarely buy machines from other collectors and prefer to hunt them 'in the wild' so to speak, here are my four rules for successful scouting:
1. You have to know what you are looking at -- Educate yourself! Buy books; subscribe to MAPS, etc; visit other collectors; go to shows; haunt discussion boards; etc. This hobby draws from a huge field of knowledge: history, science, law, music, economics, marketing, art and period design, sociology, etc. Learn as much as you can so when you encounter something, you recognize it for what it is and its role in phonographic history.
2. Be there first/be active -- Hit garage sales, antique shops, auctions, flea markets, read classifieds, craigslist, eBay, etc. Gold is WHERE YOU FIND IT! Phonos and records can be anywhere. Get up early to go to flea markets, etc. The good stuff doesn't lie around for long. If someone more knowledgeable gets there ahead of you, its gone. I try to engage casual acquaintances and even total strangers in my search by simply mentioning that I buy old "Victrolas". Sometimes they have one or know where one is. Last fall, I bought a Victor V with an oak spearpoint horn from a total stranger I spoke with at breakfast in a little greasy spoon in rural Indiana. It belonged to his grandparents.
3. Be prepared to buy -- You need to have the assets to spend, and the ability to decide to spend. Many people can't part with $ on a purely emotional level. Being educated in your hobby and recognizing the good stuff or what is a bargain and what is not (see #1) can help this along. If you have insufficient income, start wheeling and dealing in your hobby and plow the $ back in. When word gets out you are a cash buyer, people will bring stuff to you.
4. You have to be lucky -- Luck does play a huge part in all this and one's karmic baggage is one's own . . . but you seem to be doing well in this department . . . you seem to have no trouble finding things. Sometimes its feast or famine, but if you keep at it, over time it is all good. This is the only item on the list that one cannot do anything about, so three out of four ain't bad, right?
So consider these factors when you walk away from a box of brown wax cylinders and the like. They may not be there when you come back. I still have regrets over certain things I did before I knew better -- the flat-top VTLA for $15 in 1968, the Emerald Polyphon music box for $500, etc. Working with the 'rules' I just listed will improve your chances of finding stuff and making the hobby so much more rewarding. Best of luck and happy, happy collecting adventures! Luke W
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2007 16:18:24 GMT -5
Thank you for the advice Luke, I really appericate it.
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Post by Matt Brown on May 27, 2007 18:00:41 GMT -5
Excellent advice, Luke.
Matt
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2007 18:54:54 GMT -5
I have walked away from a fantastic find before, and a month latter, found the find, and bought it. That's how I got the Edsion Cylinder machine I now own. More people tend to buy Victrola's then Edsion's. Becsue the Victrola is, so more reogonizeable. As for finding, cylinders, when I do find them they are bad. So finding a decent cylinder, in an antique mall, is few and far between.
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Post by neophone on May 28, 2007 0:40:29 GMT -5
Luke,
Very well said! Thanks!
Regards, J.
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Post by maroongem on May 28, 2007 17:51:42 GMT -5
Great post, Luke, although I do notice since the advent of ebay that records & phonos have dried up quite a bit at the fleas and yard sales. Most people have computers in their homes now, and are going to eBay to check prices and or list these items rather than bother with yard sales and flea markets as they know they can realize a better price on line. Sure, you still find the box of beat 40s Benny Goodmans & Dorseys at the fleas, but the rare stuff just isn't there anymore, at least around here. Several of the Co-Op shops that I hit around here all have eBay up on the screens at the main desk, and usually someone is looking up something on there. I've even noticed a steady decline of dealers at the fleas that were once turning people away as there were no more spaces available. Now they don't have to sit out in the hot sun all day hoping someone will buy the Zonophone from Ezra Hoskin's barn because they can sit at home and put it on eBay and get a considerable amount more by doing this. Just my observations of hitting fleas, etc for the last 39 years.
Bill
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2007 17:58:49 GMT -5
Yeah, ebay has changed things quite a bit. Funny how one dealer will think an item is rare, and put a high price on it, and I can find several on ebay, sometimes for a lot less. It's like the Edsion Home Phonogrpah, I had founs for $764.00. That was the fourth Edsion cylinder phonograph, had found in an antique store. To the dealer, and the location of where the mall is, makes it rare. To me it's not. I still have good luck finding, decent playable DD's in antique malls. However, I'm not so lucky with the Gold moulded Cylinders. The one's I find are always bad ones. I will find decent one's on ebay, but the cost a bit more.
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